


Penance for Perfection

by BabyChocoboAlchemist



Category: Harvest Moon, Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns, 牧場物語つながる新天地 | Story of Seasons
Genre: Angst, Childhood Trauma, Depression, F/M, Fear, Implied Relationships, Multi, Possibly Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-03-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22995586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyChocoboAlchemist/pseuds/BabyChocoboAlchemist
Summary: “Wayne? Sure, he’s amazing. Words don’t do justice to how amazing he is. But is he someone I see myself with? I don’t know.  He’s in a universe all his own, surrounded by what’s probably a million other stars. He’s an incredibly important friend. I can’t imagine life without him. But settling down with him? I’m not sure.”Right when he was ready to confess to the love of his life, Wayne found out Mina's not at all sure about taking their relationship to the next level. In a world that believes him to be perfect, he feels as though he's anything but-and knowing that the love of his life doesn't believe in him, he can't keep himself from falling apart. Wayne reflects on his parents leaving him, and why he can't possibly confess to the love of his life.Hopefully, someone will like Wayne a little more after reading this.(Note: Mina is my female MC.)
Relationships: FeMC/Ludus (implied), Wayne/FeMC, Wayne/MC
Kudos: 12





	Penance for Perfection

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. Thank you for visiting my Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns thing. I hope you enjoy my tribute to Wayne. This came about after reading through several ToT threads, in which Wayne was pretty much the ‘pre-Kingdom Hearts 3: ReMind’ Kairi. In other words, the least popular bachelor of the bunch. The game’s characters see him as this perfectly flawless character, meanwhile, a great deal of the Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons fandom sees him as an annoying, no-good playboy. In being fervently fond of Wayne myself, and sending my MC Mina after him, I felt the need to write this. Hopefully, at least one of you will like Wayne a little more after reading this.
> 
> My MC Mina is the female avatar with dark brown skin, short ruby red hair and purple eyes.
> 
> Wayne being vegan is a headcanon of mine, one I made after finding out he doesn’t like a lot of dairy products. I’ll leave the ending entirely up to you. You can insert the MC into it, Ford, Uncle Frank-it’s all your choice. Have fun with it.

“Wayne? Sure, he’s amazing. Words don’t do justice to how amazing he is. But is he someone I see myself with? I don’t know. He’s in a universe all his own, surrounded by what’s probably a million other stars. He’s an incredibly important friend. I can’t imagine life without him. But settling down with him? I’m not sure.”

The night wasn’t going the way Wayne hoped it would. Not even the weather went according to plan-instead of being a crystal clear night, rain was pouring down as though the earth was in immediate, dire need of it. If the rain halted for even a second, all of Westown, and the towns beyond, would crumble like one of his crackers in milk. He’d stay right where he was, though. Even though he couldn’t see the stars, he also couldn’t move. The bench he was sitting on was all that kept him together. 

Nothing he did ever went the right way. The stars were aligned for the greatest night of his life-and the moment he stepped outside, the stars not only took off, but darted behind a realm of rainclouds. Not a single person in all of Westown could view the stars that were set up to be at their brightest that night. It should have been the perfect night-Wayne was set to tell the love of his life, Frank’s niece, how he felt. It should have been perfect-they felt so close, so warm, so right. She, Mina, was so close, so warm, so right. Whenever they were together, her smile, her patience, her warmth-that’s all there was. There wasn’t anyone else like her. Everything felt right because of her. Everything was right, would always be right, because of her. Yes, she was cute-by the Goddess, everyone knew she was cute. Beautiful. Fetching. How could she be anything else, with her short, ruby red hair, dark caramel brown skin and slender figure? And how about that dazzling smile of hers? How she had a kind word to offer to everyone? And in Wayne’s eyes, all women were beautiful. But there was something-no, there was everything about her. Everything about her made life new, exciting, frightening and enchanting all at once. An overwhelming experience, but one he desperately needed. 

So he prepared himself for the perfect night-the night all would be made clear. Only to overhear her in The Garden Grill, telling Brad and Carrie she wasn’t sure.

How could Mina be sure when he wasn’t even sure of himself? There wasn’t anything to hold against her when nothing he did went right, when nothing he said or felt or thought went the way it should have. Wasn’t he just doing the right thing? Wasn’t it right to be the perfect gentleman towards every woman? Making sure every woman felt like a princess-wasn’t an okay thing to do? Stepping on everyone’s toes, breaking hearts left and right-that wasn’t his intention. But then again, why did he feel like such a villain? Why was it that whenever he opened his mouth, it felt like the wrong words spilled out of him? If he was only being the perfect gentleman, why did he feel like the town’s biggest criminal?

Perhaps that’s why his parents left. He never did or said anything right. They couldn’t be bothered with a burden they didn’t deserve, so off they went. So far away from him, their son often forgot they even existed. It was for the best, though. By the Goddess, what did they need with a son that never did anything right? Not even the school they sent him off to fixed him. Pushing for the best grades, smiling at everyone he met-none of it was enough to keep his parents around. So, in the end, he didn’t try hard enough. He wasn’t enough. Pushing and pushing only led him right back to where he started. 

No wonder they left him. 

His grandparents were wonderful. His grandfather taught him how to be the Perfect Gentleman. How to curtsy, how to give the right compliments, how to kiss a woman’s hand whenever they needed something to lift their spirits. His grandfather’s kisses and compliments to his grandmother were textbook examples of how to treat a woman. His grandparents tolerated him when no one else ever wanted to give him the time of day. At least not until he perfected himself. But was it fair for him to place so much responsibility on his grandparents, when they deserved so much more? They invested so much time in a burden his parents left behind. Wouldn’t they have been better off without him?

Wouldn’t everyone be better off without him?

What if they all found out who he really was? He wasn’t what everyone thought he was. He made mistakes, he tripped over himself sometimes, he forgot things and frowned and didn’t like some things. Admitting he doesn’t like dairy or anything meaty is an uncomfortable task. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying other parts of the Goddess’ bounty, but were perfect beings really allowed to complain? Shouldn’t he enjoy whatever was put in front of him? He gave it his best shot, tried really hard to keep up a smile whenever he ate anything, but-

That may have been why his parents left him. Figuring out what he wanted to eat was too much of a hassle.

Wouldn’t everyone be better off without him? He made mistakes. He stumbled over words sometimes. What if they found out he wasn’t anywhere near perfect? His parents did-definitely why they set sail and left. If the people of Westown found out who he really was, they’d be disappointed. Megan, Frank-he and Mina were the last people he wanted to disappoint. Mina’s uncle was like a brother to him. If Frank found out he was a sham-it was too much to think of, too much to handle. So much had already gone wrong that night. And what about the little ones? What if they all found out he was a sham? A farce wrapped up in pretty eyes and pretty clothing? Would they all leave him, the same way his parents did? 

What about Mina?

Patient, warm, entrancing Mina. She already wasn’t about Wayne, Westown’s Perfect Gentleman. What if she found out who he really was? Definitely much harder to deal with than her becoming close to other men, men much more attractive than he was, men that lifted her up, gave her the world, made her feel everything she deserved to feel. Ludus was the worst knife in his side-seeing him expand Mina’s farm, seeing the look on her face as he worked up a sweat, seeing them work on the expansion together...seeing them come together to pile on wood, to chop wood, to paint and brainstorm. It was as though they were born for it-born to be a team. It was as though they were born for each other, born to see the end of ages together. She couldn’t have been prouder of him as he brought out a new side of her farm. 

Her accidentally tripping over a piece of lumber, and stumbling into Ludus’ arms drove the knife into Wayne’s side even deeper. The moment their eyes met, a dream whisked them away from all of Westown. The dream was only a moment, but it was enough to solidify a nightmare. Enough to make something crystal clear-that Mina deserved someone that wasn’t Wayne. She deserved someone much better than he could ever hope to be.

He loved her. The ferocity of his feelings made breathing an excruciating task. Sure, he was alone, sitting on his favorite bench, being drenched from head to toe in rain. The Harvest Goddess was probably having quite a laugh, watching as he allowed himself to drown in the night’s unstoppable torrents. But none of that mattered, not when it was difficult to breathe. Not when the first love of his life wasn’t sure. Not when the first love of his life deserved to be with anyone other than him. It hurt, hurt too much to think of her, hurt too much to walk away from her, hurt to think of himself with her, hurt, hurt hurt. Hurt to be perfect, hurt to be anything but perfect. It may have been for the best-if Mina found out he really wasn’t Westown’s Perfect Gentleman, her heart would be broken. So much for being such an invaluable friend. 

He’d end up being nothing but a disappointment to her.

Wasn’t that what he was anyway? His parents marked him off as such.

It hurt. The rain wouldn’t stop, but it didn’t matter. It hurt. Breathing hurt. Being, breathing, thinking, it all hurt. Being anything other than perfect, being perfect-everything hurt. Nothing was all right. 

Why not just tell her anyway? He’d get everything off his chest, right? But it wasn’t meant to be that simple. Not after she looked so euphoric in Ludus’ arms. Not after she told her friends she wasn’t sure about him. How could she be? Why would she be?

It hurt, but he stayed right where he was. Stayed still, so the rain could beat away at him. Stayed still, so he could drown in the mess he made. It hurt, everything hurt, but Wayne, Westown’s Postman and Perfect Gentleman, remained still. It rained, rained with a vengeance, but he remained still. He wasn’t even wearing his hat-the hat his grandfather gave him. He left it behind, not wanting it to be ruined by the torrents, not feeling as though he deserved to wear it, not feeling anything but numb, cold, drenched and hurt.

It was what he deserved, after all. For never being enough.

A voice cut through the thickness of the night he resigned himself to.

“Wayne? Is that you?”


End file.
